Amusement apparatus.



S. PONGO.

AMUSEMBNT APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED 1320.9, 1910.

Patented June- 13, `1911.

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INVENTUR WITH/8858:

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S.. PONGO. AMUsBm-:NT APPARATUS.

APPLIUATION FILED DEO. 9, 1910. 995,175, Patented June 13,- 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTUR WITNESSES:

vz ATTORNEY iiin Specification of Letters Patent.

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS.

VPatented June 13, 1911.

To all' whom t 'ma/yV concern:

Be it kno-wn that I, SIGMUND PONGO, a

subject of the King of Hungary, and a resiby means of intermeshing spur gears ltand j17 to a countei'sliaft 18, journaled: in the bcarings 19, 19 upon the truck 8. VThe inner end of the shaft 18 carries fixedly atdent of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improve" ments in Amusement Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to amusement apparatus, and more particularly to a device of' this character in which the passenge-rs are carried on wooden horses, carriages, vehicles or other carrying devices, as used in ordinary carousels.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a device of this character, in which the passengers of the independently operated carrying devices can vary the speed of the same, at will, whereby the race is made interesting and exciting. Y Y

With these and other objects in view,

which will more fully appear as the natureV with a disk 31, which is carried by rods 32,

of the invention is better understood, the saine consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated Vin the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many minor changes may be made in the size, form and construction of the sev eral parts without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of two of the race tracks with the carrying devices; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the carrying devices; Fig. 3 is a similar view of one of the trucks; Fig. 4; a plan view of the truck shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partly in section of a detail of construction.

In the drawings, the numeral 6 indicates the frame of the race course, upon which are arranged tracks 7, 7, on which the trucks 8, 8 run. These trucks carry at their platforms 9, 9 tubular members 10, 10, on which are mounted the carrying devices 11, 11 in the form of wooden horses,carriages,vehicles, etc. Each of the trucks is provided with an electric motor 12, which derives its current by means of a sliding or rolling contact 13 from a conductor 14:, arranged, preferably, be-

tween the rails of the track and supportw ed by the frame work G.

The shaft 15 of the motor 12 is connected tached thereto a friction disk 20, held in contact by means of a spring 21 with a fric- Ition disk 22, which is slidablzy arranged upon a shaft 23, rotatably mounted in the bearings 24 and 25 upon the truck. rIhe @disk 22l is. provided with a key seat into which `fits thel key 26, arranged longitudi- Q nally upon the shaft 23, whereby the rota-v 1 tion of the disk 22 is transmitted to the shaft i 23. This shaft is connected with the dri-ven shaftl 27 of the truck in any suitable: manner, for instance by means of sprocket wheels 28 and 29, meshing with the. links of a chain 30.

The friction disk 22 is in engagement 32, slidably arrangedin the holes 33, 33 of a support 34, secured to the truck of the device. Springs 35, 35V coiled upon the rods 32, 32, and bearing against the disk 31 and the support 34, tend to force the friction disk 22 toward the center of the'friction disk 20. Flexible connections 36, 36, running over pulleys 37, 37 and through the tubular members 10, 10, are attached to the ends of the rods 32, 32 and to the operating handles 38, 38 within the reach of the passengers or riders of the carrying devices. These operating handles 38, 38 may be made in the form of a bridle in case the. carrying device represents a horse, or in the forni of reins if the carrying device is made in the form of a carriage or vehicle.

The operation of the device is as follows: The passengers having occupied their places upon the carrying devices at the starting place of the race track, electric current is supplied to the conductors 14, 14, whereby the trucks will start to run at theV same speed, and more particularly at a comparatively low speed since the springs 35, 35 force thefriction disks 22 near to the centers of the friction disks 20. As the operat-V ing handles 38, 38 are pulled outward by the passengers, the disks 22 are forced away from the centers of the disks 2O against the actions of the springs 35, whereby the speed of the trucks will be increased. The i11- crease of speed depends, of course, upon the strength of the passenger of an individual carrying device; it depends furthermore upon the endurance of the passenger. The farther the passenger pulls the disk 22 away from the center of the disk 20, and the farther he is able to hold the two disks in such relative positions, the greater will be the speed of the carrying devices and the sooner will he nish the course upon the race track.

W'hatI claim is:

l. In an amusement device, the combination with a plurality of tracks, of carrying devices thereon, means for driving said carrying devices independently of each other, and means for varying the speeds of said carrying devices independently of each other by the passengers thereof, the speeds of said driving means remaining uniform.

2. In an amusement apparatus, the combination with a plurality of tracks, of a plurality of trucks thereo-n, carrying devices mounted upon said trucks, a motor upon each truck, a power transmitting apparatus between each motor and the driven wheels of its truck including a plurality of friction disks, and means upon each truck for varying the relative positions of said friction disks, whereby the speeds of said carrying devices may be varied independently of each other by the respective passengers upon said carrying devices.

3. In an amusement device, the combination with a plurality of tracks, of a truck mounted upon each of the same, a carrying device upon each truck, a motor upon each truck, a power transmitting device between each motor and the driven wheels of its truck including a driving and a driven friction disk, means upon each truckV for forcing the driven disk toward the center of the driving disk, and means upon each truck for pulling the driven disk against the action of said forcing means t-oward the periphery of said driving disk, whereby the speeds of said carrying devices may be varied 'independently of each other by the respective passengers upon said carrying devices.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 7th day of May, A. D. 1910.

SIGMUND PONGO.

Witnesses SIGMUND HERZOG, S. BIRNBAUM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

